Dance Factory: How long does the preparation for the Annual International Contemporary Dance Conference and Performance Festival last? Do you ever have a time when you’re not thinking about the Conference?

Adam Kowalski : We work the whole year. If we want to invite a good dance company, we need to think about it two or three years earlier, for example Przeglad… which we have planned for this year Conference. It has started two and a half years ago: we were in Brussels many times, participating in different festivals and having official meetings with representative of the Ministry of Culture of Belgium. During the whole year we are able to establish new contacts, but the most important thing is to maintain them. Less than 1/5 of them bears fruit for co-operation during the Festival. Among all the contacts we choose those which are the most suitable. We pay attention to the social aspects of such projects and also worldwide trends.

Dance Factory: How do you choose dance companies for the Festival?

Adam Kowalski: The criteria develop during the year, as you need to pay attention to many different factors. Audience reactions and attendance during previous Festivals are really important for us - it is a kind of informal poll. To make a selection we need to observe what is happening here, as well as in Europe and other world stages. During numerous trips we watch premieres and take account of how the audience reacts. Also, we cooperate with many culture institutions. Thanks to these contacts we are able to use the experiences of other people responsible for dance promotion in the world. This knowledge is the base for us and we transform it for the Polish experience.

Dance Factory: Does the Dance Theatre consider some of the elements of the Festival as specially important? Could we say that the workshops or performances are more important than other areas?

Adam Kowalski: Absolutely not! We need to emphasise that all events, such as performances, Community Outreach Projects and educational workshops are of equal importance. None of those three layers are dominant. Each has its own part which we take care of. And all of these elements have an important and special place in the conference program.

Dance Factory: It’s the 13th Conference. What are your expectations, and worries about this year's edition?

Adam Kowalski: The only things that I’m afraid of are those beyond my control. We are not afraid about things we can predict, because we did everything necessary during a full year of preparation. There are always things that can surprise us, things that just don’t depend on our will. I know that each year audiences want to see a wider world view of dance and they would like to see the festival [more active in the city space beyond the theatre.

I liked the evening very much especially Solo by Joe Alter and etude with a mop which was witty and charming.
Martyna 18 years old, Gdańsk

I have seen something like this for the first time in my life. Dancing is my life and I can say that the performances were technically well done.
Piotr, 16 years old, Świętochłowice

I think that the works are fantastic in terms of dancing, but some are not comprehensible, for example the one with the balloons. I think that everybody sees it in a different way.
Agnieszka, 16 years old, Będzin

While watching the pieces I felt both satisfied and confused. I miss some connections between particular parts, the common context. Also technically it was not good enough. Generally they did a fair job, however I have seen their better performances from them.
Michael, 28 years old, San Francisco

Monday night began with Joe Alter’s “Solo”. Standing center-stage lit by a single spotlight, he presented unlimited possibilities of the human body. Dancing his solo to Sigur Ros music, Joe Alter showed what I appreciate most in the theater – with the simplest means of expression, without any extra decorations, he created the true art. (…) While this first solo was great “Bubbles”, a duet by City Dance Ensemble was even better. Performing in perfect harmony, they danced so lightly that an inexperienced spectator might have thought that they were doing it without any effort. The music was industrial, full of sounds from the city. For me this work was a story about the relationship between two people trying to exist and create in the noise and tumult of big metropolis. The title is completely compatible with the story and the dancers showed their artistry, lightness, harmony and fluency of the movement. The word game they played that was also a game with the audience, leaving space for interpretation. Well, simply bubbles. (…) Both Joe Alter’s “Solo” and all the City Dance Ensemble performances showed the different methods, techniques and styles used by performers and choreographers in American dance theater. The collage of these elements during one night gave an interesting effect, however all together this mix of dance styles was not homogeneous, leaving a sense of insufficiency.

As owners of our bodies, we think we know them well - how they work, look, feel and what they are able to do.

Daily routine maintenance, training and acquired habits reinforce that conviction, resulting in a kind of safe schematic diagram, which forms a base for our actions, without exceeding predetermined limits.

But contemporary dance does not rely on that, we are still breaking out of existing frameworks, inquiring after the most intimate or forgotten places within us. One approach going beyond predetermined techniques is improvisation. It is a way to recognize our movement possibilities and discover in ourselves what we do not know. This is the the preferred method of working of Joe Alter, who 'for more than 20 years has worked as a performer, choreographer and teacher of contemporary dance. For his improvisation classes he wants to show dancers that the most important aspect is to communicate feeling through movement, and only after that, how does it look. There are no right and wrong movements, he does not judge his students, but tries to induce a childlike curiosity and to help them think about dance as a never- ending search or a kind of play. His workshops illustrate creative use of the body's natural possibilities, experience of different movement qualities, work on specified themes, building relations with space and what is going on around us. It is a process of continuous exploration, asking questions without ready answers. Joe Alter always leaves a safety margin, asking “what if…?” and i the ways we can find movement within us and find ourselves through movement.

Improvisation is a factor enriching the creative process of art. It helps us to reach beyond the boundaries of experience, at the same time stimulating the imagination and widening our knowledge of possibilities of the human body and movement. It provides confidence in dance, assists quickness, leading us to discover hidden movement potential which we were not conscious of.

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